I went 4-5 days without a word from him because he was on a boat on the Amazon River, so it’s probably pretty great that you can’t text or call from a boat on the Amazon River. Some things are still sacred, right? During the hotel days and nights, I was able to get some photos, videos and updates. All is well. He adopted a whole tribe of mini monkeys, or they adopted him.
#AskAwayFriday was created by the amazing Penny from Real Housewife of Caroline County and Amber from Bold Fit Mom, as a way to connect with other bloggers with a great Q & A session of 10 questions and 10 answers, between two bloggers! This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know others while allowing others to get to know you and of course there is also the added bonus of making great friends along the way which is one of the best parts of this online world! Ask me if you want to swap!
Tiffany from Mrs. Tee Love Life Laughter,
Christy from Uplifting Families,
Stacey from This Momma’s Ramblings
and
Echo from The Mad Mommy
Here are the questions! Don’t forget to check out my partner Stacey’s answers HERE. Here are mine:
1. Who was your first school girl crush? (real or celeb)
My first celebrity crush was always and forever Michael Jackson. I honestly thought I would marry him. Then I fell in love with the man who built our house when I was about five. I made him a card and handed it up to him when he was literally through our roof. I hope he liked it. In second grade, I had a big crush on Chris Jenkins. He liked me first and would sneak snacks and coins in front of me at lunch, and then run away. Somehow I always missed this mystery gift giver so I had my friend spy on me once and we found out it was Chris. Then I started liking him because he liked me. Isn’t that how it works sometimes? I had pretty deep feelings for him, though. I really cared about how he felt and I really wanted to give him a kiss. I was seven!
2. Do you have a movie that brings back the nostalgia of the teen years?
Yes. What’s funny is that the first thing I can think of is The Breakfast Club and I went to school in the late 90’s – way after this film. I got really into 80’s movies at that time. It’s like I was nostalgic for nostalgia, I kid you not. I remember it well. I’d get high on life thinking too much about my childhood, when I was still kinda a child. And there was Judd Nelson and my endless fascination with bad boys who want to be good, and their insanely awesome tossy hair. I really like tossy hair.
3. I always remember sitting next to my radio to record my favorite song onto a cassette…What songs or artists were you hoping to catch?
I spent days upon days trying to get The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” onto a cassette tape. That was the first song I ever memorized. I really thought I got it, ya know? Deep love. It all started in second grade with that blasted Chris Jenkins!
4. Were you in any school groups…band, choir, etc?
I was the Vice President of The Multi-Cultural Club which is only funny because I got that honor by saying yes to a guy I barely knew. He was President. It was awesome, though. I was also in Literary Magazine but I wouldn’t (couldn’t, really) say anything mean about people’s writing. I’ve always only known how to find the good. So those people freaked me out. And I was in drama club for all four years, but only as stage crew. Specifically, running crew. This involved wearing all black, doing exquisite set changes with furniture, and crushing on the leads in the play. Male and female. There, I said it. 75/25.
5. What was your favorite sleepover fun?
I was never a fan of sleepovers. It was that whole anxious/clingy/grieving part of me that just wanted to be home or with my mom. I had this one good friend and I’d just cry when I slept at her house, and whenever she slept at my house, I’d get really sick. It was a coincidence because it was always viral, but still. So I will say that I had one of my best friends, Mike, sleep over in high school. We’d eat starburst jellybeans and play Nintendo all night. That was my favorite. One night he talked in his sleep. He turned to me and said, “Girl, give this room a pulse.” He had no memory of that in the morning. My boss knew I had a boy sleep over and wondered if we should have a talk about the birds and the bees. I told him not to worry. I wasn’t Mike’s type, if you catch my drift. Oh, to have another Nintendo sleepover with you, Mike! Why did you have to move west?
6. During my teenage years, we spent our summer nights “Cruisin’ Eldo” and hanging out with our friends. Did you have a cruisin’ spot?
I had a few! Morris County had some nice scenic overlooks. My sisters and I used to cruise around by the McDonald’s parking lot because my older sister had a crush on a guy who hung out there! I think they were onto us really fast.
7. What was your favorite cartoon to watch as a kid?
I liked the Saturday morning cartoons lineup, and I loved “Rainbow Brite”, “My Little Pony”, “Jem”, “Smurfs” & “Snorks.”
8. What was your favorite halloween costume as a kid?
I’m only sorry I don’t have a photo on hand of the California Raisin costume my mom bought me for 3rd grade. And of course, I was Supergirl in high school and I wore it out to college parties when visiting my sister. College boys liked it.
9. Who was your first celebrity crush?
As seen above, it was Michael Jackson! And I had a wicked crush on John Stamos in 3rd grade. Again with my delusions of grandeur, I honestly thought it would somehow work out for us eventually. Hey, maybe it still will. (doubtful)
10. Did you go to any of your proms or homecomings? Was it a stag affair or with a date?
I went to three proms. As a sophomore, I was invited to a senior from another school’s prom. As a junior, I took my childhood best guy friend. As a senior, well that’s a STORY. And it’s magical. Promise me you’ll remind me to tell it?
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Oh my god that video reminded me of Southern florida with Marilyn!!!!!! Sigh, McDonals cruises, and Cue Time, and Taco Bell, geesh I feel like a stalker! Thanks for being my partner in crime!
I forgot about Cue Time! Ah, we had some TIMES. We’ll always be stalkers at heart.
This is a fun Memory Lane blog Tamara, including all the cool music videos from you and Stacey, and Cassidy’s Amazon forest video. My first onscreen crushes were Shirley Temple and Hayley Mills and Ann-Margret. My first crushes in kindergarten were Beverley Octoro, and Sally Jean De Angelo. Then Colette Conroy stole my heart. Whenever I hear “Surfer Girl” by The Beach Boys I remember her all over again. The Flintstones and all the Merry Melodies cartoon characters; Bugs Bunny & Co. were my favorite cartoons, and I loved Soupy Sales, The Little Rascals, Abbott & Costello, and Laurel and Hardy movies. First grade was my favorite grammar school year. Senior year was my favorite high school year.
Shirley Temple! What a good one. So many first crushes! I remember having multiple crushes at once. I’d number them. I’m glad that doesn’t happen anymore! Can you imagine??
Yay to Cassidy coming home tomorrow and kno how excited you must be. Hugs and hope tomorrow comes very quickly now 😉
Thank you!! It’s here. We leave for the airport in three hours on the dot. OMG!
Aw, you are there now right now and so happy for you both! 😉
Yes!! This was just about that time. It was so good!
I keep coming back to your Supergirl and Wonder Woman picture. That is just the coolest picture of you and Lindsay!
I have more of those too! I will share.
So glad your hubby will be home soon. Fun questions/answers. My celebrity crush was Scott Baio. One day my best friend and I spent hours putting magazine pictures of him all over my room – my mom walked in and made me take them all down – booooo! Have a wonderful weekend!
I love Scott Baio!! To this day. What a hilarious story.
Michael Jackson? That’s is sooooo random, I expected someone from Duran Duran! Did you ever watch Gummy bears cartoons….my fav as a kid. That or Fraggle Rock. And yes to the Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles! Have a great weekend!
ha! Really? Duran Duran? You know I met them, right? But for me.. Michael Jackson. Sigh. When he was in Thriller, though. Not after he got weird. Not at all!
Yes to the Gummy Bears cartoon!!!
Hooray your hubby is coming home! I hear monkey’s make very good surrogate family members. They have brought everything back but the Snorks and Rainbow Brite. It’s time they did! I would be first in the nostalgia line buying the items for my kiddos!
I think it’s only a matter of time before they bring back the Snorks and Rainbow Brite. Don’t you think? Or Jem!!! (or has that happened?)
Yes the live action movie of Jem has already been cast and is filming, no joke!!!
WOW! After I saw this I looked on IMDB. You are totally right! And the girl from Nashville is playing Jerrica/Jem. I can’t believe this.
I loved reading these!!! Also, those pictures are so much fun to look at!
Melanie @ meandmr.com
Thanks! There were some new finds in there – never previously published on this blog.
Isn’t it funny how you can be nostalgic for nostalgia? I’m obsessing over the 80’s and 90’s right now, and it’s kind of silly 🙂
I get it, though!!! That describes exactly what I go through.
I had a bit of a crush on The Monkeys (the whole band, not just one) when I was really young and then a massive crush on Mark Paul Gosselaar. I wanted someone to invent a time machine so that when I was old enough I could go back in time and be the same age as Zach Morris. I just looked, he’s 41 now. 41 – 32, that’s not so a huge age difference? (Though I’m not sure how Sam would feel about it….)
I had a crush on one of the Monkeys too! I can’t remember which one. Davey Jones, maybe?
Your Zach Morris confession is amazing. 41-32 is not so bad, but yes, Sam might not love that.
Sorry to barge in here, but YES to both Davy Jones and Zach Morris!!
XOXO
ha!! Best interruption ever. We all have similar taste. Clearly.
So funny. The Michael Jackson thing threw me I have to admit. And I’ve never heard of the Snorks. Ever. I’m probably too old to appreciate them now, but I loved my Saturday AM cartoons, too.
I’m surprised that it surprised so many people! It was the Thriller era. I was four. Ok, so maybe it was weird. He was amazing, though.
And The Snorks were awesome!!
Smurfs and Snorks! I would have thought Michael Jackson was too old for you…I remember my cousin being way into him and having a sleepover to watch Thriller. I had no idea who he was. And you’re younger than me…maybe I was just a dork…
ha! I like older men maybe? I had a crush on him during his Thriller years. I was only four then, so of course he was too old for me but I loved him so.
How cool is it that Cassidy gets to go to the Amazon? I’m glad he’s coming home now. My hubby travels a ton for work and I hate when he is somewhere where we can’t really communicate. My first ever crush was on Bobby Orr the hockey player. I was 4 years old and he was #4, I thought it was a match made in heaven. He was the first boy I ever kissed. I stood in line at Mamouth Mart for an hour to get an autograph (and a kiss!).
Bobby Orr! #4 is my lucky number so I think it’s a perfect match. I love that he gave you a kiss too! What a guy.
Cassidy is back now, and chock full of stories.
The Breakfast Club is one of my favorite movies! I was in college by the time it was out but I still loved it. Michael Jackson? That’s so cute. It must have been his Beat It album.
Enjoy your hub’s homecoming. It will be nice to have the kids sit on his knee and he can tuck them in at night while you get a nice break! Loved the pictures you shared. Throwback is great!
Actually it was Thriller!! I was about four and my parents had the record. I would stare at it for hours. And that music video? I was so in love with him, zombie or not.
The homecoming has been great! I’m only now getting a few minutes to check in here, which is the sign of a perfect weekend!
omg I love Michael! I cried actual buckets of tears when he passed. I didn’t realize how much I actually loved him until he was gone 🙁 but I still listen and celebrate him with his music!! I loved Rainbow Brite, the good ole days of cartoons!
He passed away pretty soon before I gave birth to Scarlet. She was never alive during the world of Michael Jackson. She totally loves his music, though. I keep it playing!
So fun to read about your first crush:)
I never went to prom!!! I turned down the chance because we had a track meet out of town for the entire weekend and my main focus in high school was track!!!
I get it! I didn’t go to our last senior sleepover event because I was seeing the X-Files movie. Priorities!
That’s so funny about waiting for your favorite song on radio. I do that all the time before just to record the song! It’s so amazing how times have changed. Now we can just download songs or look for them on YouTube and play them as often as we can. Cassette tapes should be in my time capsule or something. LOL
I was worried how we used to record music would make us sound so old to you!! haha. Times have certainly changed. Definitely time capsule worthy.
YAYYY for Cassidy coming home and wow to the Amazon! That’s incredible!!! I remember sitting in front of the stereo waiting for my song and the DJ’s voice always messed up the beginning or the end!
Yes!! The stupid DJ’s!! Even though my sister is one, I’m pretty sure she respects that people want to hear the beginning and ending of a song!
Michael Jackson was my first crush too. I loved watching his videos way back then. My mom was a big fan of his too.
I had forgot all about The Snorks.
That makes me happy! A lot of people were surprised by my crush on him, but they’re probably remembering him during his weird years. I loved him during his Thriller fame.
Oh man I grew up on cartoons (sadly?) and all those bring back so many memories! I had a Rainbow Brite doll that I LOVED and would take everywhere with me. Other girly stuff I watched included Jem and Strawberry Shortcake. And is it sad to say that my first crush was on one of the Bobbsey Twin boys, but based on an illustration of the book? It wasn’t even on a real person haha.
I loved Strawberry Shortcake too! And I think that was also a show?
I LOVE your first crush. Umm.. if crushing on illustrations is wrong, I don’t want to be right. I think I had feelings for Jughead from the Archie comics. He was always eating!
What’s happening, hot stuff! 🙂
I LOVED the Snorks, but the SMURFS were my favorite! I had Smurfs sheets and I slept with my Smurfs keychain. 🙂
My husband and I recite lines from The Breakfast Club like it’s our job and our relationship relies on it.
I hope you had a beautiful weekend with your love!
XOXO
Hey, beautiful!!
I love that you watched Smurfs and Snorks too. We had so many little Smurfs toys, but no sheets that I can remember.
Umm.. your husband and you are amazing.
I loved those sheets. 🙂
Yeah, we’re pretty cool. 😀
You and Cassidy are pretty damn cool too!
XOXO
We used to have Star Wars sheets. I would totally use them as an adult but we have a king-sized bed and all…
I generally hated sleepovers myself. Mainly because I was a bed-wetter. I had one friend I could sleep over with, though, so that was nice.
I could see how that would make sleepovers not fun! So glad you had that one friend, though. It only takes one!
Love the supergirl costume. So is that Chris with you in the first photo? That is so cute! Ah loved all those teen movies of that era…Breakfast Club, About Last Night, Sixteen Candles. Those were fun years! Hope the reunion with Cassidy was wonderful!
Sadly I have no photos of Chris. I should Facebook stalk him to see whatever happened to him! He was so nice.
Those teen movies made it for me.
Love these posts… you are an open book woman!! 😉 – http://www.domesticgeekgirl.com
Sometimes I really am, and other times, I keep some stuff to myself. It’s fun to balance it! Thank you!!
Whatever Cassidy does, it must be AMAZING to have an adventure like that! And now I’ll be skipping along to Don’t You Forget About Me for the rest of the day. Happy memories there!
Such a great song! Yeah, the stories are coming out in pieces. Some are scary! A tarantula on his bed! And poor Scarlet has asked him to tell only nice stories now. I can’t stop laughing.
Rainbow Brite! I watched that one too. And My Little Pony. I also watched She-Ra. She kicked butt.
Yes! I totally loved She-Ra. And He-Man, for that matter. I had all the dolls. I probably still do.
Did I read about Jem becoming a movie on your Facebook page? Not sure how I feel about that. I had an entire sticker album dedicated to puffy Smurf stickers, and I was in school when the Breakfast Club came out. I loved that movie, and I wanted to be Molly Ringwald.
Yes!! That was on my Facebook status. Jem, Jem, truly outrageous.
I remember puffy Smurf stickers! Wow, you just took me back in time.
And for the record, I think Molly Ringwald should want to be YOU.
There is so much that I love about this post – the snorks, the smurfs, Breakfast Club, The Cure. All of those things bring back such fond memories. And hooray for Cassidy returning home. Did I tell you that my Mom was cruising down the Amazon last week?
WHAT?? That is amazing! Maybe she cruised past Cassidy’s boat! I don’t know where exactly he was. He spent part of the trip in the city of Manaus so maybe his boat wasn’t too far on the Amazon from there?
I know, crazy right? I have no idea where she was. I hope he had a great trip!
Well that’s awesome. Today we saw the slideshow of the photos from his trip. It “only” took two hours.
I kept waiting for a Gator to pounce out of the water… I was looking so intently on the water’s edge to find a ‘head’!!
I’m sure Cassidy is back by now, cause I suck and I’m behind on my reading!!! I love your crush stories!! You were going to marry Michael eh? I was going to marry Sylvester Stallone. 🙂
They totally say gators! They’re very large down there – called caimans. No photos, though!!
I can’t believe we didn’t have a double wedding with Sly Stallone and MJ!
Don’t worry – I also had a crush on the man who built our house!
hahah! I remember that well.
A resounding YES to both Breakfast Club and The Cure. I also loved “Friday, I’m in Love.” My first celebrity crush was Shaun Cassidy. You know from The Hardy Boys? And he sang too. I saw him in concert and then actually met him when he was on the Midway for some rides. he gave one of his drumsticks. for real. I thought we were going steady then. I was 8. LOL
Wait, you met your celebrity crush? Yeah, that’s amazing.
I did meet Eddie Money so there’s that..
I met a couple of them! Norman Reedus, Nathan Fillion. I was a foot from George Takei while he gave an interview.
Yeah, I’m very fickle I guess. ha
still no Avengers met yet though. #lifegoals
I’m way older than you, so you might not know Woody Woodpecker, The Underdog and The Flintstones as Saturday morning cartoon fare. They were in color, though.
First celebrity crush might just have been Belinda Carlisle!
Are you sure they were in color??
Just kidding – I know all of them, but maybe not from Saturday mornings. Maybe from syndication.
Belinda Carlisle is a good pick.
My first celebrity crush was Ralph Macchio. There was just something about those cool karate movies that totally swooned me.
He still looks good at 50 or so! I saw a photo recently and thought, “Oh yeah!”
Oh, gosh! I can relate to your little trip down memory lane! All of these things are SO important as teens growing into adulthood! Proms, cruisin’, music, and fav celebs were all such a huge priority. I had ridiculous infatuations with Judd Nelson and Robert Downey Jr and loved The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, the Goonies, and SO many more! Pop culture was top notch in the 80’s! lol
Wow, you had great taste! I loved Judd Nelson – just LOVED him. As for Robert Downey Jr., he’s still so crush-worthy!
I would have to say my first celebrity crush was Paul McCartney. Actually, I had a crush on all of the Beatles!
Nice!! He’s so cute for sure. I think I had a crush on Ringo first, oddly.
My first crush was on AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys
Wow, that’s a good one! I love thinking back to my 80’s and 90’s crushes.
The question and answers brought me back to my own childhood! I had forgotten about all the fun stuff from the 80s and 90s like Jem and the Snorks!
I was so shocked to see that a new Jem movie is coming back! I wish the Snorks would come back..
I cannot remember who my first crush was. It’s nice that you have so many great memories to reminisce about.
I can’t believe how many I had at such a young age! I’m glad it seems that my oldest isn’t following in my footsteps..
I can go ahead and admit that my first celeb crush was Michael Jackson! Come on…the Beat It red jacket!!!
ha, you too! For me it was the Thriller video even though he was SO creepy in it.
That’s so cute that your crush was on MJ! I can’t remember mine but my daughter’s was Sonic the Hedgehog!
haha! That just made my day! Sonic is pretty cute.
Can I now admit to a crush on a character in the Archie comics? Jughead!
I loved Michael Jackson and am a true 80s girl
Ok, total same here!
What a fun post! Loved all the personal stories and photos! It makes me think and ponder, in a good way! Great job!
Thank you! I’m so glad because I love writing these posts.
Ha a raisin outfit. I would have loved one of those, lol. I remember my first crush… he did not return my affection, lol!
I so wish I had a photo of it! It was very cute.
I can totally remember all the words to songs that were played when I was in high school. Today – nothing sticks! ☺
I used to print them out and memorize them! These days? Even that wouldn’t work.
Oh, I’ve had so many crushes, I can’t even remember them all. I think I’m going to spend some time going down memory lane right now!
This is such a fun post!!! While most of my friends were crushing on rocky Schroeder I was hot for Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties.
This was so fun! My first celebrity crush was Jordan from NKOTB. Six year old me was absolutely convinced I was going to marry him. I even made him birthday and Christmas presents that I sent to his fan mail address.
My first crush was shawn cassidy. I had a poster above my bed and remember kissing it b/f I went to sleep. Totally weird I know.
Sounds like you had a rather busy early and teenage life. 🙂 That sure was a lot of crushes. I don’t think I can remember my first and I only went to my high school prom. I wasn’t popular enough back then to get invited out, unlike my oldest. I can just see your kids being quite like you though, especially Des, I just know he’s going to be the popular one in school. He’s such a sweetheart.
I love the questions and answers about your life. Gosh – Rainbow Brite I have not hear that name in a while.
I don’t even remember who my first crush was ..lol. That was so long ago .. this was a cute post that takes me back to when times were much simplier
Oh memories! I love post like this! Thank you for sharing. My first crush – Leo!!
I was a Duran Duran girl! But honestly, I still have some crushes! Robert Downey Jr, for sure. 🙂
How cool that he went to the Amazon. And what fun questions to take you down memory lane.
Aww first love. I lovee the questions. Great post.
Isn’t it weird how we are so attached to our phones and communication lines that when lines are cut we have a little panic! So cool that he was in the Amazon.
OMG! Michael Jackson?! That’s too cute. Lol I definitely get the nostalgic affect from the breakfast club…even though I didn’t watch it until I was a teenager in the early 2000’s. That is SO COOL you were in Literary Magazine! Years ago my mom uncovered a bunch of submission letters I had written to poetry magazines in sealed envelopes that she never sent for me. I wanted to slap her but it was cool to finally work up the nerve to open them and see what I had written. I’m jealous :[ ! I’m obsessed with that sleep talk phrase “Girl, give this room a pulse.” Talk about poet by dream! I’m so happy you remembered that and shared it, I’ll never forget that phrase, I LOVE IT!!!! Lol I loved John Stamos too. You really love a good head of hair!